The day my car died and my boss sent me a screaming email within the same hour

Last Tuesday started fine, but by 9am my alternator gave out on the highway exit near my office. I had to call AAA and wait 45 minutes in the rain. Then my boss emailed me asking why a ticket I closed yesterday was reopened, and she cc'd the whole team. It was just one of those days where everything piled up at once and I couldn't catch a break. Has anyone else had a day where life just decided to kick you while you're down?

3 comments

3 Comments

theajohnson2d ago

Car dying sucks, but an email with your whole team cc'd isn't exactly a crisis, is it? Just sounds like a normal Tuesday.

jason_stone591d ago

Theajohnson, you're not wrong but I've been there and the trick is to just own it. Fire off a quick reply to the team saying "Hey, personal situation, will circle back once it's sorted" so nobody's left guessing. Then handle the car stuff like a normal person - call a buddy for a ride or grab an Uber while you figure it out. Half the stress comes from overthinking the email when you can just close the laptop and sort the car first.

the_eric1d ago

You know what, I used to be in the "just power through it" camp myself, thinking every email needed a thoughtful response. But that one line about half the stress being from overthinking the email really hit me. I had a similar situation last month where my water heater exploded and I spent 45 minutes trying to draft the perfect "sorry I'll be late" message before just sending "family emergency, back online tomorrow" and dealing with the mess. Turns out nobody even read the first part of my carefully crafted email anyway, they just cared that I showed up later with dry clothes.